Essequibo (colony)

Kolonie Essequebo
Essequebo
Dutch colony
1616–1815
Flag Coat of arms
Essequibo and Demerara in 1798.
Capital		Fort Kyk-Over-Al (1616 - 1739) Fort Zeelandia (1739 - 1815)
Languages		Dutch, Skepi Creole Dutch
Political structure		Colony
Governing company
•	1616 - 1815	Dutch West India Company
Governor
•	1616 - 24	Adrian Groenewegen
•	1796 - 1802	Abraham Jacob van Imbijze van Batenburg
History
•	Established	1616
•	Ceded to the United Kingdom	November 20, 1815
Succeeded by British Guiana

Essequibo (Dutch: Essequebo) was a Dutch colony on the Essequibo River in the Guiana region on the north coast of South America from 1616 to 1814. The colony formed a part of the colonies that are known under the collective name of Dutch Guiana.

Essequibo was founded by colonists from the first Zeelandic colony, Pomeroon, which had been destroyed by Spaniards and local warriors around 1596. Led by Joost van der Hooge, the Zeelanders travelled to an island called Kyk-Over-Al in the Essequibo river (actually a side-river called the Mazaruni). This location was chosen because of its strategic location and the trade with the local population. Van der Hooge encountered an older ruined Portuguese fort there (the Portuguese arms had been hewn into the rock above the gate). Using funds of the West Indian Company, van der Hooge built a new fort called "Fort Ter Hoogen" from 1616 to 1621, though the fort quickly became known amongst the inhabitants as Fort Kyk-Over-Al (English: Fort See-everywhere). The administration of the West Indian Company as well as the governor of the entire colony settled here in 1621.

Initially, the colony was named Nova Zeelandia (New Zeeland), but the usage of the name Essequibo soon became common. On the southern shore of the river the hamlet Cartabo was built, containing 12 to 15 houses. Around the river, plantations were created where slaves cultivated cotton, indigo and cacao. Somewhat further downstream, on Forteiland or "Great Flag Island", Fort Zeelandia was built. From 1624 the area was permanently inhabited and from 1632, together with Pomeroon, it was put under the jurisdiction of the Zeelandic Chamber of the WIC (West Indian Company). In 1657 the region was transferred by the Chamber to the cities of Middelburg, Veere and Vlissingen, who established the "Direction of the New Colony on Isekepe" there. From then on Pomeroon was called 'Nova Zeelandia'.